Shoutout to the old school Lisle ball joint press I found in a pawn shop

I was doing a front end job on a 2004 Silverado last month and had a new, shiny press from a big tool truck. It flexed like crazy on the first lower joint, took me almost an hour. Grabbed my buddy's beat up Lisle 37000 from his box, the one that looks like it's from 1990. That thing popped the other side out in maybe two minutes flat, no drama. The steel was just thicker, the threads were cleaner. It's got me thinking, are we paying for marketing or for metal? What's one old tool in your box that still beats the new stuff hands down?

3 comments

3 Comments

irisowens15d ago

Honestly that old press probably has better heat treat from back then. The new ones feel softer and just don't hold up the same. Tbh I'd take the pawn shop find over the shiny truck tool any day.

diana_kim6615d ago

Remember that Lisle press was actually redesigned in the late 2000s.

blake79215d ago

Wait, are you sure about that? I could have sworn the big redesign happened much earlier, maybe around 1998. I remember the old blue housing being totally different.